THE COMMON ANTELOPE. 219 



eaten in some of the religious ceremonies of the Brah- 

 mins. It is found abundantly over the whole Indian 

 Peninsula, and is extremely graceful, and swift. " It 

 is pleasing to see a herd of antelopes, consisting per- 

 haps of fifty qr sixty does, and led by a fine dark co- 

 loured buck, bounding over a plain. The height 

 and distance taken at each bound, is wonderful ; they 

 often vault at least twelve feet high, and over twenty- 

 five or thirty feet of ground. It is folly to slip grey- 

 hounds after Antelopes. Instances have been known 

 of their being run down, but few dogs have survived 

 the exertion." 



" The best method of shooting Antelopes, is to 

 get a pair of very quiet bullocks, and walk between 

 them, under the guidance of a native, who should 

 hold a plough. The antelopes, to whom this sight 

 is perfectly familiar, will, by this device, await with 

 seeming confidence, and enable the sportsman to ap- 

 proach sufficiently near to get a good shot."* 



The young are of a pale fulvous colour, which 

 darkens with age to a sepia brown, sometimes to 

 deep black, the centre of the flank becoming darker, 

 and shewing a streak, as in some of the gazelles. The 

 lower parts and insides of the legs are white, and the 

 nose, around the orbits and the throat, is often of the 

 same colour. The horns are spirally twisted, and are 

 sometimes two feet in length. 



Major Smith's next group is formed of animate 

 having the horns in a great measure bending forward. 

 Williamson's Oriental Field Sports, ii. 226. 



